Service Members, Veterans & Their Families

Tactile Orientation Marking

---- PROTOTYPE --------- PURPOSE: To create a prototype of a Braille signage system to assist individuals who are blind or have low vision to navigate airline lavatories. Airplane lavatories can be challenging to navigate for any traveler, but for individuals who are blind or have low vision they can be especially difficult to navigate. Designers at Hong Kong Polytechnic University have developed an easy to use system that helps readers of Braille know where everything is once they enter the lav

The Guide Strip is a tactile orientation marking, detectable orientation surface, and emergency evacuation navigation aid designed for use by individuals who are blind or have low vision. It is a surface material with grooves that can be detected and followed using a white cane. It serves as a tactile guidance system enabling individuals to track safely to an emergency exit or place of refuge. At transit platform door openings, it can indicate door location and appropriate path of travel. It can

DO IT YOURSELF ENTRY --- PURPOSE: To indicate to blind students and staff in a school hallway that they are moving to the left side of the hall into oncoming students. Apply a colored "tap strip" down the middle of the hall for its entire length. The strip is easily seen by sighted staff, and it returns a distinct sound and feel when tapped by the blind students' canes. TITLE: Hold That Line (in Springboard). AUTHOR: Pfotenhauer, M.. JOURNAL: RE:view. REF: Vol. 36, No. 1, Spring 2004: p. 34. PAG

The Raynes Rail is a tactile and voice output orientation aid and an exhibit accessibility system designed for people who are blind or have low vision. The Raynes Rail can be installed in a variety of environments to provide audible and braille navigation and orientation information at strategic points. One or more rails can be installed in a location. Each rail has a braille label on one side providing navigation and orientation information about the premises in close proximity to the rail. The

The Safe-T-First Rubber Wall Base is a detectable orientation surface designed for use by individuals with low vision. The glow strip rubber wall base covers the bottom edge of the wall and acts as a transition between the wall and the floor. It is co-extruded with a strip of luminous Permalight photoluminescent material. In emergencies such as fires, it can indicate a continuous uninterrupted pathway to safety. Its low location is advantageous in a fire emergency, since the safest place to be d

---- PROTOTYPE --------- PURPOSE: To design a prototype of a set of Braille labels that are mounted on public handrails to allow individuals with visual disabilities to safely and easily navigate stairs. Even with a guide cane in hand it can be difficult to negotiate a flight of stairs solely on instinct. The Safety Dot is a set of metallic Braille labels mounted on a handrail that inform the user of the number of steps remaining on the stairway. TITLE: Handrails That Speak. WEBSITE: Yanko Desig

Tacdots are detectable warning and orientation markings designed for use by people who are blind or have low vision. These are raised dots affixed to the ground or floor to provide a tactile pathway. Each Tacdot makes a distinctive sound when tapped with a cane to differentiate it from an irregularity in the surface. Tacdots can be used in indoor and outdoor environments. COLOR: Custom colors are available.

The Tactile Map is an accessible map and tactile map designed for people who are blind or deaf blind or have low vision. This customized map features a tactile map vocabulary developed by Coco Raynes Associates that introduces architectural spaces and other sites. These maps, which are custom designed and produced by the manufacturer for each location, use glass, metal or photopolymer to provide a tactile representation of the environment. It may also be used to provide emergency evacuation info

Tactile Town: 3-D Orientation and Mobility Kit is designed for use by students ages 5 and older, who are visually impaired and blind. Assists in the development of cognitive mapping skills by helping students perceive and organize their physical environment specific to concepts such as street layouts, intersections, route patterns, city block arrangements, etc. Encourages active participation and interaction with displayed map layouts so that concepts and skills, not conveniently accessed throug

Ultrapoly Braxx is a non-skid detectable warning surface designed for use by individuals who are blind or have low vision. Based on Non-Skid technology initially developed for the United States Navy, it can be used to protect against pedestrian slip hazards on areas such as ramps, stairs, boat decks, and platform edges. The surface comes in sheets with a wear and impact resistant baseplate of ultra high molecular polyethylene (UHMW-PE) covered with raised non-skid truncated domes comprised of sa